Darker than Night
by Wood Elf luver
Summary: Legolas gets captured by Orcs, and Aragorn and the twins have to try to come and save him. But will they make it in time? Reviews are greatly appreciated and please enjoy the story!


OK, first of all, this is not going to be a story with chapter after chapter, it will probably only have this chapter, chapter one. Because I don't need more than one story to work on right now, but this story line is so good I just had to type it up. So, here is my well-thought-out story!

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He had no idea how he had gotten captured by some Orcs. He had just been wandering aimlessly at night near the woods of Rivendell, lying on the grass and staring at the stars, which reminded him of when he was younger. But then, out of the darkness of the thick woods, this band of Orcs had just happened to spot him, and take advantage of finally finding an Elf off guard. Now here he was, hands tied behind his back, which were also tied to a tree, and with the disgusting creatures standing before him, trying to decide how to torture him first.

Legolas sighed. Why did he always have to be the one to just, out of the blue, get into trouble? This time, Aragorn wasn't even with him, so he didn't know how he had gotten into this situation without his friend tied to the tree beside him. This would be a grand story to tell his friend...if he could just break through the ropes!

Unfortunately, he didn't have time to even think about escape, for a large Orc, which he assumed correctly was the leader, stepped forward and punched him in the face. It was a good thing that he had a tree behind him, because he would have fallen flat on the ground, though the bark of the tree still left a few scratches. He was hauled up again, while the Orc again wound for the pitch. With a feeling that certainly felt like a strike, he fell against the tree again, and now he could feel the scratched getting deeper.

Once he had regained his footing, the Orc tried again, only this time, Legolas's Elven reflexes kicked in, and he swiftly dodged the blow, which had been heading straight for his temple, and obviously had been fatal-intended. But this only made the Orc mad, and he kicked the Elf in the stomach, which earned a gasp from Legolas as he fell to his knees. Again he managed to pick himself up, expecting another blow. But when none came, he dared to open his eyes, which he just realized were closed, and watched as the leader spoke with the other Orcs in his nasty language.

Finally, the leader again stepped forward, holding a small stone and looking at Legolas with a sneer on his face. Oh gosh, Legolas thought, this is getting pretty bad. He tugged on the ropes with all of his strength, but it didn't even make a small tear. The Orc came nearer and nearer, and Legolas fought against his restraints harder and harder. The Orc won, though, and Legolas fell to the ground after the rock was knocked against his head. His arms were still tied behind his back and to the tree, so the only thing he thought before sinking into oblivion was that his shoulder was probably dislocated and he wished that he had taken Aragorn with him.

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"Legolas!" The startled ranger screamed and sat up straight in his bed, looking around, breathing heavily. Had it all been just a bad dream? If it had, it was so vivid, so distinctable, that it seemed more like reality. He decided to conclude that it had all been a dream, but when he layed back down the vision of Legolas falling to the ground, blood covering him, coursed through his mind, and he opened his eyes immediately. He knew that he couldn't sleep again this night, and the only person that could help him through it was just across the hall.

He snuck out of his room and out into the hall, which was darkened by the night, but not enough to where he couldn't see the outline of his friends' door. Aragorn barged in, knowing Legolas would know who it was by the manner of the way the door was flung. But when he went to Legolas's bed, he was completely surprised to find the blankets tossed aside, and no Legolas. Aragorn's breathing started to get faster as he put the pieces together.

He decided to ask his brothers if either of them had seen the blonde haired Elf. Aragorn broke into a run when he reached the twins' hall, knowing both would be awake, making prank plans for the next day or talking about how they were going to go hunting the next day. He burst into the room, which of course held Elladan and Elrohir in it. Both beings looked up at the disturbance, and jumped up from their seats on Elladan's bed. It wasn't like their foster brother to barge in in the middle of the night.

"Estel, what it wrong?"

Aragorn looked at each of them, concern flashing in their eyes equally. He took a deep breath and told his story.

"I had a bad dream to where Legolas was captured by Orcs outside of Rivendell and that he was hurt, and when I woke I went to check on him and see if he could help rid the dream from my mind, but when I went into his room, he wasn't there!"

He had said it so fast that Aragorn didn't even realize what he himself had said, but he knew it made sense. But the twins had heard every word, and exchanged looks with each other.

"The last time we spoke to him he said that he couldn't sleep and was going outside to get some fresh air and look at the stars. But-" Elladan didn't have time to finish, because Aragorn gasped loudly, almost falling to the ground at his brothers' words. That was exactly Legolas had been doing in his dream!

"Estel?"

"I apologize, Elladan, for interrupting you, but in my dream, that's what Legolas had been doing, and then he was caught off guard by the Orcs. When did you speak with him?"

"Less than two hours ago, I believe. We will help you look for him, if you wish."

"Thank you."

With that all three ran out of the room, and outside the Rivendell gates. They looked everywhere, but there was no trace of the Elf. Aragorn was breathing heavily, looking around in a panic, searching for a sign that Legolas had been there. Finally, Elrohir yelled out, "Brothers, I think I have found a clue, though it just says that Aragorn's dream has turned into reality."

Both Aragorn and Elladan ran to their brother's side to look at what he'd found. Aragorn nearly fainted when he saw Legolas's knife in Elrohir's hands, and Elladan stared at his twin, both sharing some thoughts with each other. Their connection broke when Aragorn started to walk towards the forest, his hand on the hilt of his sword the whole way. His foster brothers rolled their eyes, as if saying 'typical ranger', and then followed Estel into the woods, which gave off a darkness darker than the night.

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It was really quiet as he laid there playing unconscious. Legolas had really been awake for some time now, but the Orcs were too stupid to notice. He could feel the pain in his shoulder increasing as he tried to tug on the ropes that bound him, and had to bite his lip to keep from screaming out some curse. He sighed, trying to gain control of his mind, which felt like someone was hacking it open with his own knife. His vision would blur every few seconds, and he would have to blink away the fuzziness. Legolas knew he had a concussion, he just refused to let himself give up because of such a simple injury.

Legolas decided to get into a more comfortable position, to where he could at least lay against the tree instead of being down on the ground. As soon as his back hit the bark, he almost jumped as the sound of the tree filled his mind, blocking out the pain. This whole time the tree hadn't said a thing, so Legolas just didn't decide to communicate with it. Now it spoke of concern, and of three newcomers heading in his direction. He couldn't help praying it was Aragorn and the twins coming to help them, and not another, though smaller, band of Orcs.

The tree also apologized for the scratches the Elf had attained when he had landed against the tree an hour before. Legolas sighed and said that it was no problem, that the scratches were the least of his worries. The trees leaves rustled in thought, and it spoke:

_I will try to help you. But you will have to be swift. I will try to break you bonds, and lift one of my limbs down so you can hop onto it and disappear from these Orcs and get back to your home._

Legolas nodded his head slightly, and waited patiently. He felt the bonds loosen slightly, and with a final burst of Elven strength, ripped the rope from the tree. He looked around at the Orcs, who were talking and every now and then sneaking glances at their prisoner. The tree slowly lifted its lowest limb down to where the Elf could climb on.

With his hands still bound behind his back, and a dislocated shoulder, getting onto the limb was really hard. He had to jump up and try to catch his balance before leaning against the tree trunk and sliding down so the he was sitting. He rubbed his bonds up against the bark, hoping to loosen them enough to pull his hands out. He would have used his knife, if it hadn't been lost near the place where he was captured. Legolas finally managed to break the ropes, and was relieved that he could once again use his hands to defend himself. But when he tried to bring his left arm to the front, white hot pain sliced through his shoulder, and he had to use a lot of his self control to not scream out.

With his left arm hanging limply, he held onto the tree as the limb rose higher from the ground. Finally, it reached the highest it could go, and Legolas stood up, now able to stand more properly and not so bent as he had had to do with his restraints.

The trees worked together to form a path for the injured Elf, and he silently crept through the trees. He almost made it, too.

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The three brothers walked silently through the woods, the twins Elven eyes searching through the darkness, penetrating everything that their eyes shone upon. Aragorn stopped, holding his arm out to keep his brothers from mistakedly walking into the clearing where loud voices were coming from. Pulling them into a large thicket, each crouched and surveyed the area to which the sounds were coming from. Elladan was the first to spot the Orcs, all camouflaged to fit into the darkness, unseen by enemies...or prey.

Their protection didn't help them as it might regularly, since the beings watching them were one ranger and two Elves. Elrohir watched with intesity, eyes gazing around the scene for a sign that these were the Orcs that had taken his friend. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a rope around a tree...but no one was there. Even more interesting was the it was broken where one might have been tied to it, and that there was a limb moving slowly up, careful not to make the Orcs aware of what it was doing. Elladan saw the figure in the tree at the same time as Elrohir, and watched as his brother was getting ready to call out.

Before Elrohir could make a sound and make the whole company of Orcs aware of another groups' spying eyes, Elladan put his hand over his brother's mouth, not clenched tight enough for Elrohir not to be able to breathe, but tight enough to wear his brother would get the hint and not make a peep, though the urge was overwhelming. Elladan nudged Aragorn lightly, and quietly pointed to the tree in which their friend was perched, slowly rising to the branch of another tree. Aragorn saw, too, and all three kept their eyes on Legolas as the branch stopped moving, and the trees formed a small path for the blonde being.

"Hey, where did the Elf go?!" shouted one of the Orcs, and the whole band looked to the broken bonds, glaring angrily around. The Orc leader's voice rang throughout the forest, "Find him! Make sure that he isn't in any of the trees! Elves are sneaky that way!"

Aragorn, Elladan, and Elrohir sat tenselly as many of the Orcs passed by where they were hiding. Elrohir kept his eyes on his friend, though, and watched as Legolas made his way around the second tree, then to the third, and into the darkness of the forest. He was making great time considering the injuries he must've had.

Aragorn watched, also, and saw that Legolas had his quiver with him, though he didn't know why the Elf hadn't used it in the beginning. It could've saved him a lot of trouble. Before he could think more on it, though, heavy footsteps sounded outside of the giant bush in which the brothers were hiding. Elladan grasped the handle of his knife, ready to fight whatever creature was outside of the thicket.

They all exchanged looks of agreement, and sprang out of the bush as one.

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Legolas had just reached the third tree whenever he looked down and saw the Orcs had noticed his disappearance. He groaned inwardly. Did these Orcs ever not notice anything so he could just escape? No, he thought, it couldn't be that simple.

Then, for some reason, he thought he heard the sound of clanking weapons, metal on metal. But he wasn't too sure, because the pounding in his head intensified with every sound he heard. In fact, he could feel himself swaying slightly on the spot, and he clung to the tree, hoping not to fall. Of course, his wish wasn't granted, as the ground seemed to get littler and littler, as if Legolas was going higher and higher. He knew he wasn't, but just like that, the limb that he had been standing on vanished, and the ground came closer now than Legolas had first thought. He landed with a thud on the ground, and knew that he had to have broken something, because pain once again flashed through him.

Well, that hurt, he thought to himself, before somehow managing to get off of the ground. His vision swam, and he knew that the fall probably didn't help his concussion, since he basically went head first. But, he wouldn't stop until he was out of the Orcs grasp. He still wasn't completely, since they were all scattered throughout the forest searching for him.

The clanking of metal was distinct now, to where he could barely hear it, but he knew that it wasn't just his imagination. Who was fighting against his Orc captors? He didn't know, but he was cheering them on all the way as he went towards the noise. He didn't know why, but something that still clung to him told him that if he went towards the noise, he would feel safer.

When he finally got so close to the sound that it was louder than the pounding in his head, he peeked through the bushes into the small clearing. What he saw surprised him, only the good way, not the bad way.

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As one, all three of the brothers fought viciously, all desperate to win this fight. If they didn't, there was no hope for them...nor probably for finding Legolas, who no doubt would probably be captured a second time, considering his luck. The sound of the metal could be heard from miles away, and made all the other Orcs that had traveled into the woods scramble out to help their companions. But the three's strength was waning, since they were all tired, none of them having slept for hours, and all fighting as if this was their last battle.

Elladan got done killing one Orc, and turned around almost too late to find another. It swiped at his head, but he dodged the blow that would have cost him his life, and rolled away from the Orc. Still, the creature advanced, and fought the dark haired Elf. With one final burst of strength, it knocked Elladan to the ground with the butt of its sword, poking Elladan hard in the gut.

Elladan fell to his knees, struggling to fight the pain and get back up. Eventually he did, but the Orc raised its sword, and before Elladan could register it, he swung down on Elladan. It would have been a life threatening wound, too, had the Orc not stopped, its face twisted up in agony. It fell to the ground at Elladan's feet, and Elladan took the time to look at what had killed it. An Elvish arrow. Legolas's arrow.

He looked up, and saw that more arrows were being shot at the Orcs from the woods. Finally, all of the Orcs fell to the ground, and Aragorn killed off the last Orc with his mighty sword. Then, all three turned to the spot where the arrows had come from. Nothing moved. Aragorn stepped forward, to where he was near the spot. "Legolas?"

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Legolas shot arrow after arrow, and pain laced up his shoulder with every shot. He was so consentrated that he didn't see the Orc leader pull the bow and quiver off of his back, which Legolas hadn't noticed the whole time, and shot into the place where the arrows were coming from. Legolas looked at the Orc leader just in time to shoot an arrow at him, killing the Orc, but the leader's arrow also connected with him, and sent him to the ground.

Legolas clung to the arrow, which was sticking out of his dislocated shoulder, and pulled it out, not even trying to hide a wince. The clanking stopped suddenly, and he waited, wondering who had won, not daring to look, for fear that it hadn't been his friends.

"Legolas?"

Legolas's heart exploded with joy, for his friend was still alive. He slowly crept out of the forest to meet his friends.

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Everyone sighed with relief as Legolas stepped out into the clearing, and went to greet him. But Aragorn watched as his friend swayed slightly, blinking every two seconds. Aragorn ran to his friend, catching Legolas before he could fall to the ground. Elladan and Elrohir helped him lower Legolas to the ground so that he was kneeling.

"Legolas, where are you hurt?" Aragorn asked, and felt Legolas shake underneath of him. Aragorn took off his cloak and pulled it around his friend, who still shook even with the added warmth. Still, the Elf didn't answer, refusing to admit to 'weakness'.

"Legolas, come on. We need to know where you are hurt, or else I'll have to have my ada(father) make you stay in bed for a week."

He knew his father would do this anyway, but just decided to add it. Legolas took a shaky breath, before answering,

"I'm fi-...never mind, you wouldn't believe me. My head hurts like an Oliophaunt trampled on it, and-ow!"

Legolas flinched as Aragorn touched his head, where Legolas had a giant gash. Looking into Legolas's eyes, he saw that his friend's pupils were dilated slightly, and motioned for his brothers to look too. Elladan sighed, patting Legolas's shoulder.

"Mellon nin(my friend), you have a concussion. How did you get that?"

Legolas groaned.

"That is a story that is too long to tell, and I don't think I could stay awake long enough to tell it anyway."

Aragorn didn't listen, but instead was staring intently at Legolas's shoulder, which was swelling.

"Legolas, does this hurt?"

He reached to touch Legolas's shoulder, but the blonde slapped it away, scrambling backwards away from his friends until his back was against a tree trunk. He stared at his friends, which gazed at him with concern.

"Legolas, I need to take a look at your shoulder. Can I do that?"

Aragorn asked this slowly, getting up and taking a step closer. When Legolas didn't react, he took two more big steps closer. Legolas started shaking, though he didn't know if it was due to the weather or out of fear. Finally, he reached the blonde being, who was staring at Aragorn as if the man was going to harm him, he crouched beside his friend, who flenched slightly.

"Legolas...I am not going to hurt you. Only help. Can I at least take a look?"

Elladan and Elrohir were impressed with the comfort and concern in Aragorn's voice, the calm way he asked. They watched as Legolas gaped at the man sitting in front of him, staring straight at him, and he trembled before nodding hesitantly.

Aragorn slowly and carefully prodded Legolas's shoulder, and even though he was being gentle, Legolas still flinched at his soft touch. Finally, Aragorn stopped at looked calmly at his friend.

"Legolas, your shoulder is dislocated and I need to reset it. It will only take a second. Okay?"

Legolas looked down at the ground and nodded again, tensing slightly when Aragorn took his arm. He screamed in pain when Aragorn pulled it, setting the shoulder back in place. He whimpered slightly, and Elladan and Elrohir knelt beside him, mainly for comfort and support than to just be there. Aragorn prodded the wound again, to make sure it had set right, and was surprised to find a gash in it. He pulled down Legolas shirt to reveal the purplish wound from the arrow. Clearly, the arrow had been poisoned, and Aragorn looked at Legolas, making eye contact with the shaking Elf. Then, he looked at his brothers, who stared at him, and sighed.

"Legolas, we need to get you to my father. Only then can we get the poison out of this arrow wound. We're going to get you some help."

At these last words he looked at Elladan and Elrohir again, and they shared a silent agreement that they needed to hurry. Elladan picked up Legolas in strong arms, and the younger Elf looked up at him. Elladan was immediately reminded of when he had been in this similar situation when Legolas was an Elfling, and he had broken his arm when climbing a tree. Elladan and Elrohir had found him crying in the forest, and Elladan had picked him up, carrying him back to Rivendell. Legolas had then looked up at him, and the look he saw in them then was the same one he saw now. Security. Elladan gave Legolas a comforting smile as they walked through the forest, back to Rivendell.

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Wood Elf luver: Should I make another chapter, or should this just be the end? I don't know, you tell me. If you want to read more, just review and tell me, and if you think this is a good ending, review and tell me it is. So...anyway, that is the longest...chapter...if it can be called that, that I have ever written, if you haven't noticed. This story was on my mind at midnight last night, and I thought for sure that I would forget it, but apparently, my mind thought it was such a good idea that it kept it somewhere back there. Poor idea, had to suffer with my pre algebra problems. Yeah, those I don't even bother to remember. Well, hope you enjoyed it. Read, review, and TTYL! :)


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